Animals taught us culture Aeon
The Man Who Invented the Modern Zoo Tested Out His Ideas on People First Smithsonian Mag
HOW THE RUBIN OBSERVATORY WILL REINVENT ASTRONOMY IEEE Spectrum
Deadly tomb fungus that killed 10 scientists now yields powerful cancer-killing drug Interesting Engineering
How To Tell If You’re Dead Nautilus
How Societies Morph With the Seasons Sapiens
Climate/Environment
Dangerous heat wave grips U.S. with record temperatures NBC News
NEW: Road buckles in Missouri due to “extreme heat,” sending a car airborne.
“When I went back to get a front angle of cars going over the smaller buckle, the road exploded and rose over 18 inches, sending a car airborne,” said the man who filmed the incident.
The incident… pic.twitter.com/D0JSBDBZoF
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 23, 2025
Asia heating up twice as fast as rest of globe, WMO warns Down to Earth
Invisible damage: From stratosphere to marine life, impact of ongoing wars pervasive & long-term Down to Earth
Lightning Strikes the Arctic: What Will It Mean for the Far North? Yale Environment 360
Pandemics
Long COVID is increasing housing insecurity, but support programs fail to help The Sick Times
The Koreas
Lee Jae Myung to skip meetings with NATO leaders in Netherlands Korea Herald
Japan
Japan PM Ishiba to Skip NATO Summit Nippon
Seoul’s Lee and Tokyo’s Ishiba off to a surprisingly warm start Asia Times
China?
Second China-Central Asia summit draws new blueprint for cooperation Beijing Review
Syraqistan
Israel kills at least 43 Palestinians in Gaza, including aid seekers Al Jazeera
***
Trump announces that Israel and Iran have agreed to a ceasefire Anadolu Agency
Iran launches strikes on Israeli targets, despite alleged ceasefire Al Mayadeen
Iran: Military operations halted, conditional on Israeli aggression Al Mayadeen
Iran breaks ceasefire with missile attack on Israel; Katz instructs IDF to ‘respond forcefully in heart of Tehran’ Times of Israel
Inside story: ‘Conclusion’ to Iran-Israel war expected after Iranian retaliation for US bombings Amwaj
You Cannot Negotiate with the Zionist West Craig Murray
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Trump’s Grave Miscalculations Alastair Crooke (Video)
Trump and Netanyahu aim to remake the Middle East with bombs. Iran shows why that will always fail Sina Toossi, The Guardian
Marco Rubio Says It’s ‘Irrelevant’ Whether Iran Decided To Build a Nuclear Weapon Antiwar
Sovereignty Under Siege: Iran, the West, and the Illusion of Choice Elijah Magnier
Walking around the EOB/West Wing today there is a “different feel”. Like if you are sports team that won a major game or in business winning a major competitive contract. You “strut” differently. Helps when you have a President @POTUS and a military able to be described in two…
— Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) June 23, 2025
Netanyahu Thinks He’s Churchill, but He’s Looking More Like George W. Bush Haaretz
Iran vs the US and Israel — Kabuki Theater on Steroids Larry Johnson
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Israel can’t afford to shoot down Iran’s missiles, and can’t afford not to Kevin Walmsley
Iran launches missile attacks on US base in Qatar AP
US military aircraft no longer visible at base in Qatar: satellite images AFP. From June 19.
So far Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Yemen, and the Palestinian Authority have all condemned tonight’s ballistic missile attack by Iran against Al Udeid Airbase in Qatar.
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 23, 2025
***
Iran Is Headed Toward Regime Collapse Nouriel Roubini, Project Syndicate
Israeli Ministers Say Israel Cooperating With Iranian Opposition, Call for Regime Change Haaretz
Iran confiscates thousands of small drones as crackdown on Mossad cells intensifies The Cradle
Islamic State Narratives on the Israel-Iran Conflict in Issue No. 500 of Al-Naba SpecialEurasia
Israel and the United States Are Planting a Harvest of Chaos in Iran The Century Foundation. Buys Zionist war narrative, but might be on to something with what they hope to accomplish.
***
Middle East Conflict Drives Spike in War Risk Insurance Costs gCaptain
China orders fleet to report Hormuz voyages amid protection speculation Lloyd’s List
***
Putin tells Iranian FM ‘no justification’ for US-Israeli war, offers support for Tehran The Cradle
US Evacuates Embassy in Lebanon as Israel Steps Up Strikes Antiwar
European Disunion
Von der Leyen in Crisis? Leftist Parties Threaten To Pull Support From Queen Ursula European Conservative
Old Blighty
As Thames Water fights for survival, crumbling assets show challenge ahead Reuters
What Caused The Great Stink of London? History Defined
O Canada
Mark Carney’s first 100 days a blitz of pro-corporate, Trump-friendly moves The Breach
Canada signs defense pact with EU Politico
Military spending groupthink and Canada’s left Canadian Dimension
New Not-So-Cold War
Zelensky aide pledges more ‘surprises’ for Russia after drone ambush The Times
Russia Begins Serial Production of Oreshinik Long Range Ballistic Missiles: What Makes it a Game Changer? Military Watch
Russian Warship Spotted Escorting Two Inbound Stateless Tankers Maritime Executive
Trump 2.0
huge week for the america first crowd pic.twitter.com/r7Q2Zj4D4g
— america’s no-war lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) June 24, 2025
Democrats en déshabillé
NYC’s Compelling Mayoral Primary Is a Microcosm of the Democratic Party Common Dreams
Mahmoud Khalil, Zohran Mamdani, and the Politics of Vulnerability Lit Hub
MAHA
Federal HIV Guidelines Face a Shutdown — A Critical Loss for Clinicians and Patients NEJM
Police State Watch
Masked men in U.S. Border Patrol vests take Santa Ana father after repeatedly hitting him KTLA. “…a father to three (!) sons who are all U.S. Marines.”
Trump’s ICE Agents Are Arresting US Citizens. GOP Budget Would Hire 10,000 More. Truthout
Militarized LA: troops here to stay as Trump doubles down on deployments The Guardian
Immigration
Supreme Court allows Trump to swiftly deport certain immigrants to ‘third countries’ NBC News
AI
Judge denies creating “mass surveillance program” harming all ChatGPT users Ars Technica
Trapped In Work Mode: The Real Challenge Of AI Is Not Technical, It’s Conceptual, Mythic, And Institutional 3 Quarks Daily
Robodebt: When automation fails Can We Still Govern?
Cluely, a startup that helps ‘cheat on everything,’ raises $15M from a16z Tech Crunch
Healthcare?
Private Equity Acquisition of Gastroenterology Practices and Colonoscopy Price and Quality JAMA Health Forum. Spoiler alert: they did not improve.
Imperial Collapse Watch
Gangster empire: what the bombing of Iran reveals about the West Thomas Fazi
Spies of Empire: Beware UN-Affiliated Organisations Kit Klarenberg
Divided America is Vulnerable in War Matt Taibbi
My thoughts on bombing Iran.
I don’t know anyone in America who has been the victim of a crime or killed by Iran, but I know many people who have been victims of crime committed by criminal illegal aliens or MURDERED by Cartel and Chinese fentanyl/drugs.
Almost everyone in our…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) June 22, 2025
Groves of Academe
Republican plans to cap student borrowing could shatter an everyday profession Politico
Screening Room
Hollywood is in bad shape. You wouldn’t know it from CEO pay Los Angeles Times
Class Warfare
Looking Backward to Counter Mysticism and Despair Adolph Reed, Jr., Nonsite
Neighborliness Archedelia
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
